SEW-LOCA
by Lady SBrindheir
Summary: A co-authored Round Robin between Lady S and Brindheir


Title: SEW-LOCA  
  
Co-Authored By: Lady S and Brindheir  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Summary: See Author's Notes  
  
Disclaimer: Standard...  
  
Author's Notes: Lady S: Hey! This was a round robin between Brindheir and I that got started in an e-mail we were sending back and forth. He was telling me about a Model Fiesta that he was going to miss and it kind of spiraled out from there. We both wrote ourselves into parts of the story and went from there. There're a lot of inside jokes but I think it's still a pretty good story. The ending (written by Brindheir) is my favorite part. It's really funny. Anywho... Since Brindheir doesn't know I'm posting this yet he can't write a note, but I'm sure he says "Hi" and "Enjoy"! PS - This was his first attempt at Stargate (He writes for the Andromeda universe) so let him know how good he did!  
  
On to the story!!!  
  
  
  
  
SEW-Loca  
Lady S / Brindheir  
  
  
  
  
Sarah pats Mike's head.  
  
"Now, now, now... don't be too hard on yourself. We all make these mistakes..."   
  
Man walks in w/ blindfold and rifle.  
  
"This the one ma'am?"  
  
"Yeah this is him."  
  
The man grabs Mike by arm and blindfolds, placing his back to the wall.  
  
"Michael Hernandez... you are hereby charged with a felony of the highest degree... missing the model fiesta. How do you plead?"  
  
Mike drops to his knees.  
  
"Like this... PLEASE!!!!!! Lem'me go! I wanna go! She was right! Women are better! We men are scum!"  
  
"I'm so glad you realized this."  
  
Turns to man and gives signal.  
  
Raising rifle to shoulder man puts finger over trigger and....  
  
.... suddenly a blinding flash of light startles everyone in the room. A watery explosion erupts from the previously silent ring on a side-wall. The man holding the rifle found himself too close to the explosion, being disintegrated instantly.  
  
A blonde human woman emerges from the Stargate's event horizon shooting at anything hostile. She turned to Mike (still in his kneeling position). "Kind of like you that way Colonel."   
  
Mike grinned, "In your dreams Carter... had to keep them occupied....so intent on me, they never heard the Stargate."  
  
Sarah's eyes glowed in anger, her plans thwarted. She raised her hand to the intruding woman. Mike sprang to his feet and pulled Carter down just as invisible shock waves struck stone. Rubble blasted over the two humans.  
  
"You are dead, Mike..." Sarah hissed.  
  
More humans were coming through the gate and the alien pretender started to flee.  
  
"SEW-LOCA" whispered Daniel Jackson, one of the new arrivals.  
  
"A most unstable God, Daniel Jackson," commented Teal'c, following the Archeologist. "Are you alright Michael Hernandez?" inquired Mike's favorite Jaffa.   
  
"Just a bit dirty..." Mike said, getting up off the hard floor. "You said this God was unstable?" he asked running his hands through his hair.  
  
"SEW-LOCA is most powerful and displays her power through many smacks. Her moods change like the wind and will irrationally argue for no point."  
  
"Well, let's get the hell out of here. She's bound to be back. Dial us home Major."  
  
The human soldiers quickly exited. Mike glanced at Sam before entering the Stargate. "Thanks Major."  
  
Sam's eyes lit up with an answering smile, "You would have done the same for me Colonel...but as I entered the room, I heard something about a Model Fair."  
  
Mike rolled his eyes. "Long story Major."  
  
She grinned. "The General will probably give us a few hours downtime."  
  
Mike laughed at the subtle suggestion...well, not so subtle. "O.K. O.K." he relented. "It all started..."  
  
The two entered the Stargate and the field collapsed.  
  
***  
  
"I swear Dilly... The infernal male escaped. We can't have even one escape."  
  
The taller companion's eyes glowed with rage.  
  
"We shall get them..." she vowed.  
  
The two women laughed over their plan to control these pitiful humans. Little did Mike know what he had taken back through the gate with him. Now it was only a matter of time until he returned bringing with him the one thing Sarah truly wanted.  
  
**  
  
As Mike traversed the halls he was searching for someone/something to help him with his problem. Turning a corner he saw Teal'c door and decided to bug him with his problem. Entering the room he saw Teal'c sitting amidst his many candles, a sure fire hazard should anything happen in the room. Sitting down opposite from him Mike, fidgeting impatiently, waited for Teal'c to finish.   
  
"Michael Hernandez... have you come to join me in Kel-no-ren?"  
  
"Hmmmm... nope. I got a problem."  
  
"Why are you eating cardboard, Michael Hernandez?"  
  
"It's not cardboard... it's chicken. Got it from the commissary. Want some?"  
  
"No thank you. It almost killed my larval Goa'uld last time."  
  
Mike shrugged and continued chewing away, the true reason for his interruption having flown right out of his mind. Getting up he left the room. Once back in his quarters he remembered why he had gone for help. There, in his quarters was a Lioness guard, the one of many loyal only to Sarah.   
  
Pressing a button on his hand plate, Mike felt himself unable to move. As he had been caught mid blink his eyes were closed and he was unable to see. When he was released from the field he opened his eyes to see that he was being held in a thick-glass cage. Across the room he saw a gate that was active and the almost all-powerful Dilly was sending a message through it.   
  
Yelling at her Mike was ignored as the man that he was and for many days he was kept in the cage only being let out to play when the leash was untangled. On the fourth day the gate activated with only Mike to witness it. Through the event horizon came his team, armed to the hilt and ready to play. As Carter ran up to the cage she put her hand to the glass and stared at her CO.  
  
"We'll get you outta there Sir!"  
  
With a brilliant flash of light Carter found that she was in the cage with Mike.  
  
"What the...?"  
  
"Sam? Mike?"  
  
As Teal'c and Daniel moved forward to help them they found that they were unable to move. From behind a curtain a small laugh was heard as Dilly emerged into the open.  
  
"You were correct as always Mistress. The plan went perfectly."  
  
Sarah walked into the room, here eyes glowing in satisfaction.  
  
"Of course it did."  
  
Moving slowly between the foursome she smirked in satisfaction.   
  
"Leave us Dilly. I want to be alone with my prey."  
  
"But Mistress...!"  
  
*SMACK*  
  
"You would dare defy me?"  
  
"No Mistress..."  
  
Dilly scuttles from the room leaving only the five people present.  
  
"You are Daniel Jackson... are you not?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good. I bring you a message from the Tok'ra. Shau'ri son, the harsesis, has been found. He is here in my protection."  
  
"But you're Goa'uld?"  
  
"No... I am Tok'ra."  
  
"Oh for crying out loud!" grumbled Mike as Major Carter used her knife to cut the leather leash from his neck.  
  
"Daniel, WHO is this person?" pointing to the irritated Sarah.  
  
"Uh..." started Daniel pushing up his glasses lost in thought. "SEW-LOCA was the God, errr... well Goddess of chaos. He... well, she, didn't really serve any purpose other than to create anarchy. Even other Goa'uld were afraid of her. She was powerful and carries with her a small cadre of personal guards."  
  
"Is she a system lord?" Sam asked.  
  
"I am no system lord!!" shouted Sarah, miffed that they were talking about her right in front of her.  
  
"She is correct Major Carter." Teal'c answered. "She is a woman." As if that answered it all.  
  
Wait... perhaps it did!  
  
"Daniel," started Mike, "How many women system lords have we met?"  
  
"Umm.. none."  
  
"Her personal guards are all women." Sam commented.  
  
"So theoretically Danny, Teal'c and I can sue for discrimination." Sam's elbow knocked against Mike's ribs.  
  
"But if she has the harsesis..." started Daniel.  
  
"Daniel Jackson is correct Michael Hernandez," Teal'c informed.  
  
"Yeah, Teal'c I know. So is she a Tok'ra?"  
  
"Silence!! My patience to endure your incessant babbling is at an end!" Sarah's eyes glowed.  
  
Mike grinned and turned to his group. "Touchy isn't she?" Then turning to the Goa'uld/Tok'ra? "Can't smack us behind that glass eh? Tell us Queen Bee, what do you want? Why the charade to capture us?"  
  
Sarah smirked at the gloating, if confused, Tau'ri that stood enclosed before her. With a wave of her hand Carter was removed from the box.  
  
"Hey!" Mike glared. He wanted her in there with him.  
  
"I am being watched by the system lords. They have planted a spy among my people who is reporting to them every move I make. One false step and they will overthrow my power."  
  
"But I thought they fear you." Daniel interjected.  
  
"They do... for now. It is a fine line between fear and hate, one that grows smaller every day. I am in need of the assistance of the Tau'ri to fully accomplish my mission."  
  
"Which is?"  
  
Glaring at Mike she again waved her hand shrinking the box to mere four foot by four-foot cube.  
  
"HEY!!" he cried. "Lem'me outta here!"  
  
Turning her back to him Sarah faced the one's with any intelligence.   
  
"The Tok'ra have been led to believe that I am a traitor to their cause as I flex my power over many systems. They are unaware that I am the reason they have yet to be caught. They still look to men to lead them into battle" she says shaking her head in pity. "When will they learn?"  
  
Cocking her head to one side she listened for a moment before moving so quickly that no one knew what was happening until it was done. With a press of a button Sam was lifted into the air and suspended from a pole on the wall. Teal'c and Daniel were place into the cube with Mike, which was brought back to normal size.  
  
Seconds later Dilly entered the room followed by several guards.  
  
"Mistress...?"  
  
"SILENCE!"   
  
*SMACK*  
  
"You would dare to enter my chamber without permission?!"  
  
*SMACK*  
  
"You will be punished for this insolence!" Sarah cried. "Take these three scum to the mines let them work there to break their spirits. The woman shall stay with me... she may yet prove to be of worth to me. And you...Dilly... a good servant with bad judgement... you shall be punished for your stupidity. Take her to the pit!"  
  
"No! Mistress no I beg of you! Not the deer pit! Mistress I beg!!"  
  
"SILENCE!!" Sarah yelled. "Take her to the deer pit!"  
  
The guards dragged the four people away, leaving Sam and Sarah alone in the throne room.  
  
*****  
  
Meanwhile back at SGC...  
  
General Hammond fought against the mounting tension that seemed to flare when this SG unit was on mission. When they detected the infiltrator (Lioness guard). Mike played the part well but they were moving forward without any intelligence. How can a mission be successful without gathering information first? The General knew of this team's gift for improvising, but it was too damned shaky to base an operation on.  
  
But so far, the plan was working smoothly.  
  
*****  
  
Daniel, Teal'c and Mike were brought along without incident. Soon after they left, their kicking and yelling stopped. They found themselves in a secluded spot outside the building, when the men suddenly attacked their captors, quickly dispatching them.   
  
Teal'c and Mike helped Daniel with his. Military training counted for something.  
  
"Daniel, you and Teal'c find the kid. I'll go after Sam. Here you'll need these."  
  
"Where did you obtain these Michael Hernandez?" Teal'c asked.  
  
Mike grinned. "You don't know the freedom you have when everyone else thinks you are just a dumb old male. If they want to treat me like a dog, then I am gonna bury some bones."  
  
"Not bad." Daniel interjected. "Do you think Sarah's really Tok'ra?"  
  
Mike sighed. "At this point, I don't give a damn. If she wants to play Tok'ra that's hers and the Tok'ra's business. I just want us all to get back to the SGC with the kid. We'll worry about Sarah/SEW-LOCA later."  
  
"Careful Michael Hernandez. She is most volatile."  
  
"Thanks. You too."  
  
Mike ran back into the building intent on rescuing Sam. For days they had let him roam around allowing him to study the layout of the building, albeit on a leash.  
  
'Just what was this thing with Sam and poles,' he thought grimly. Just what sort of horrors would he find?  
  
*****  
  
Sarah kept the glare on her face until the room was once more cleared of people, leaving only her and Sam. Sam soon found herself back on the ground and moving of her own free will.  
  
"We must leave. The child is already on my ship."  
  
"Why are you doing this? You've got a pretty good set up going here."  
  
Sarah looked at Sam as if she had sprouted horns.   
  
"Are you crazy? Do you know how many people it takes to keep this charade going? I don't have that kinda money! You think all this gold is real?! Not by a long shot blondie. Besides... these robes itch like crazy! We don't have much time. Let's get going!"  
  
Pressing yet another button Sarah called up a set of transport rings. Sam blinked from the light to see a ship. While Sarah took the pilots seat Sam was left to stand behind the chair, watching. As the ship rose into the atmosphere it maintained an orbit around the planet.   
  
"Come on!! Where the heck are they?!  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Your 'men'. My guards were instructed to take them to a secluded spot and pretend to be 'taken out' so they could escape and roam freely. It's easier to pick them off one by one than as a group. Ah-ha!! Gotcha!"  
  
Sam turned to see the rings activate and soon Daniel was with them on the ship, Teal'c at his side.  
  
"NO!' Daniel cried. "We never found the boy!"  
  
"Silence!" Sarah yelled. "I must concentrate!"  
  
"Daniel... here..." Sam said. "He's already here."  
  
Taking Daniel into another room she showed him the squirming blankets. With tears in his eyes Daniel picked up the baby and looked at him.  
  
"He looks just like Shau'ri..." he whispered. Looking at Sarah he said... "Thank you!"  
  
Sarah nodded. "Every child needs a father. This one especially."  
  
Watching her pilot the ship and search for Mike Daniel knew he no longer had any doubts she was Tok'ra.  
  
*****   
  
Mike entered the room he had been searching for and yelled in frustration when he found it empty. Before he could move to check another spot the rings came down over him and, knowing better than to touch the field, he was forced to wait to see what would happen.  
  
As the rings descended back into the floor he saw his team waiting, along with the child, while Sarah piloted the ship out of the system.  
  
**  
  
Mike raised an eyebrow, glancing at Teal'c. He was just too tired. Several days being kept in a glass cage, being treated less than an animal, then taking out those guards.... He'd had just about had enough.  
  
Teal'c raised an answering eyebrow and Mike took out an object, flipped a switch and it's snake like head raised... zzzzaaaatttttzzzz... went the gun's discharge and Sarah slumped at the controls.  
  
Teal'c was ready to move her aside and take over the piloting of ship. Both Sam and Daniel cried out.   
  
"Colonel!!"  
  
Daniel spoke up, "She helped us Mike! She united me with my child. Mike, she IS Tok'ra!"   
  
Sam followed up. "It's true Sir."  
  
Mike looked at his team members with a tired expression. "That may be true campers..." he sighed. "...but couldn't she just ask for our help than go through the motions of torturing us? Why all the games? .. and aren't we supposed to be gong to the SGC? Then why are we on a ship and not through the gate? Besides... how do we know that's the right kid?"  
  
Daniel looked at the baby and then Mike in horror.   
  
"Calm down Danny boy. I am sure it's the right kid. Teal'c you all right up there? Where are we going?"  
  
"The ship is stable Michael Hernandez. But Sarah's destination remains a mystery."  
  
"Damn... just like everything about her. Sam?" looking to his trusted 2IC to give them a direction.  
  
"Well Sir, if our position is correct, then the closest planet with a Stargate.."  
  
"..that won't shoot at us?" Mike added.  
  
"..that won't shoot at us is PX-2344B."  
  
"Very well, give Teal'c the coordinates."  
  
"Why don't we just go back to the planet and use the Stargate there?" Daniel asked.  
  
"Because, against my better judgement, let's assume for a moment that this Sarah/SEW-LOCA is trying to aid us... that she is Tok'ra. Then she would have burned her bridge on the planet. I am also assuming that she's got a good reason to leave."  
  
"Pretty big assumptions huh Colonel?" Sam quipped.  
  
Mike looked at her and smiled a tired smile, "Well, you all insist she's Tok'ra. I may not trust her but I trust my team."  
  
"Traitorous Dog!!" spat the Tok'ra waking up.  
  
"Well, well... speak of the Devil..." Mike murmured.  
  
"I will... I will... " she started.  
  
"Can it lady. We are all here where you wanted us. So what now?"  
  
"You expect me to give out my plans to you... you traitorous male!!??"  
  
Daniel steadying the baby asked, "What's with the male bashing?"  
  
"Daniel Jackson, she has proven most hostile to the male members of any species." Teal'c joined in from up front.  
  
Sam, "Yeah, Colonel, I have heard nothing but..."  
  
Mike looked at her, "Imagine me spending days in front of it.."  
  
Mike turned to the captive Tok'ra, bound. "Don't worry, we took all your metal toys away. Tell me Tok'ra or whatever you are. If I had tied you up, kept you in a cage for days, put a leash on you and walked you around and then I told you I was a friend. Tell me, what would you do?"  
  
The Tok'ra noticed the angry glares from the Tau'ri.  
  
*****  
  
Back on the planet, three women wake up groggily.   
  
"The mistress said to fake being overpowered," one said steadying herself.  
  
"We didn't have too. We must have been out for a long time."  
  
"Men!" the third one spat.  
  
*****  
  
Standing with her back against the wall Sarah looked out at the three Tau'ri who stood before her, the fourth sitting at the controls. They were mad, their leader especially. Sarah supposed they had a point, he had been mistreated rather badly. But it was still no excuse to shoot her! Before she could reply to their glares a loud alarm rang out from the controls.   
  
"Another ship approaches, Michael Hernandez," Teal'c announced.  
  
Moving to his side Sarah read the display and her face paled. "We must leave at once!" she cried.  
  
"Hold it right there!" Mike declared. I still have doubts that I can trust you. How am I supposed to believe that you're not leading us into yet another trap?"  
  
"Ignore him," Sarah ordered Teal'c. "Leave now."  
  
"Hold it Teal'c."  
  
Looking back and forth between Sarah and Mike Teal'c decided to do as Mike insisted, trusting his teammate. In the very next second the ship lurched. Reading the display screen on the controls Teal'c announced, "We are trapped in some sort of a beam. The ship is being pulled into the other ship."  
  
Muttering a stream of Goa'uld curses Mike and Sam couldn't understand Sarah brushed past them to take the child from Daniel's arms. With a gentle kiss to the boy's forehead she placed him on the floor and seconds later the transport rings activated. The young child disappeared but when the rings retracted in his place stood a troupe of Lioness guards. Grabbing Sarah they forced everyone else to accompany them at the business end of a staff weapon.  
  
Led through the hallways, down corridors and through doorways until they were quite lost the prisoners eventually came to a throne room and forced to their knees. On a platform three or four steps up sat four main thrones and many other thrones, smaller ones, surround them.  
  
"Holy Hannah!" Sam cried when she looked at the women occupying the thrones; each one dressed in silks and golden jewelry. "There's at least twenty of them!"  
  
There, one in each throne except one of the four major thrones, sat women; each one identical to the one kneeling with them before the staff's of the Lioness Guards. There was one difference. Their eyes, though all equally blue in color, were steely, hate filled, maniacally evil in nature. One woman, the one who seemed to be the leader, stood and made her way down the stairs with all the grace of a cat, an evil smile on her face that made the group shudder.  
  
"My poor sister. You have eluded us for the last time, Sarah. Where is the boy you are hiding from your sisters?"  
  
"Gone," she said with an even voice.  
  
The woman grabbed Sarah's hair and pulled her head back to meet her eyes, glowing with rage. "Where is he?" she demanded.  
  
"I sent him away, to somewhere safe. You'll never find him."  
  
With a raging scream she threw Sarah to the floor before a calm mask settled over her face. Turning back to the to her women she pointed to their fallen sister. "What shall we do with our sister?" she asked them as she re-claimed her throne. "Our sister has defied us yet again."  
  
"Kill her," another one said.  
  
"Now, now, Sa-La," the first said. "That is too easy of a punishment."  
  
"Then what shall we do, Sara?" Sa-La asked of their leading sister.  
  
"What do you think Sahara? Shall we put her in the water pit with her pitiful Tau'ri friends or should we perhaps send her to meet her to her sister's?"  
  
The third woman smiled an equally evil smile. "Send her to the pit. Let her suffer for a little while before we condemn her to her fate."  
  
Sara smiled down at the group of prisoners and her voice rang out. "To the pit!" she cried. "Take the stinking men away from my sisters, the sight of them bothers me."  
  
Forced to their feet they were led down more hallways and eventually stopped over a metal grating in the floor. The grating was lifted and the five prisoners dumped down the hole into the pit of waist high water below.  
  
"Well this is just great!" Mike cried. Turning to Sarah he yelled, "Who the hell were those women?"  
  
"My sister's," she whispered, slinking off into the corner, her mind filled with the proclamation Sahara had decreed. 'Join her sisters'. Sarah wanted to weep.  
  
"Oh well that helps!" he cried.  
  
"Indeed it does, Michael Hernandez," Teal'c said. "There are legends of a Goa'uld who was so split in her decisions that she became four different people, one for each of her decisions. One was the Leader, the second was Cunning, the third Anger and the fourth was Kindness."  
  
All four humans turned to look at the woman dressed in silks, huddled in the corner.  
  
"Oh for crying out loud..." Mike cried.  
  
"Guess we should have trusted her after all," Daniel said quietly.  
  
"Oh Danny Boy.." Mike sighed as he moved to a wall. "I don't have the luxury of trusting the person who hands me a baby."  
  
"But... but... Mike, she brought..." Daniel said exasperated.  
  
"I know... I know. But Daniel, my first responsibility is to the team, the people under my command. Not the Tok'ra and, as cold as it sounds, not the kid. We have been working blind here from the get-go... no intel, and we've been carried along in whatever local power struggle is going on here."  
  
"Sir, if they were planning to use the child to get information regarding the system lords, and exploit that knowledge..." Sam started.  
  
"...then we are in deep sh.."  
  
"Michael Hernandez, I do not think we are being watched," came Teal'c's observation.  
  
"They wouldn't stupid male," muttered a voice in the corner. "Your indecision..."  
  
"...has caused us to be jailed and locked up in here. Yeah, yeah." Mike waved his hand unconcerned looking about the room trying to figure something out.  
  
"You shot me." Sarah said flatly.  
  
"... and you wouldn't have shot me were roles reversed?" Mike came back, "Jesus, lady. I was tortured, leashed... led around..." he started to narrow his eyes.  
  
"I never...." Sarah started to come back.  
  
"It wasn't you was it??!!" came Mike's interruption.  
  
"It was some other half or third or fifth of whoever split!!" his eyes lighting up in revelation.   
  
"Is that true?" Sam asked  
  
"But... but..." started Daniel  
  
Sarah looked at the Tau'ri staring at her. Did they not know? Were they not really aware? The surprised look in Mike's face told all. He thought... he thought he was dealing with the same individual this entire time! They thought that it was she the entire time! No wonder they couldn't understand her actions! No wonder they didn't trust her! Well except Daniel, but only after she gave him the child.   
  
"You thought it was me?" she asked in a state of shock.  
  
"Who else?" asked Daniel.  
  
"My sisters. You did not know of my sisters?"  
  
"You mean those hate-filled clones of you? No, we didn't have a clue." Mike said over his shoulder studying the metal grate serving as a roof.  
  
"You don't ...you don't have the sense?" Sarah asked.  
  
Sam walked over to her, "You mean, some natural ability to tell you and your clones apart? No, we don't. Now if you dressed differently... then..."  
  
Sarah found that she could not hold on to her fast evaporating resentment.  
  
"I should have known that you could not tell..." she cast her eyes over the human team.  
  
"Chalk it up to bad intel. Seems to be the going concern of the day." Mike quipped.  
  
"I owe you an apology.." she started..  
  
"Hey, I shot you. If anyone owes anyone an apology it's me." Mike turned to look at the Tok'ra. "... and for what it's worth, I am sorry."  
  
Her eyes flared briefly white at the reminded shot to the back, but dimmed at the apology.  
  
"So you are saying that you trust me?" she asked.  
  
"If you can't trust a fellow prisoner, who can you trust?" Daniel answered for the team.  
  
Mike's eyebrows came down in thought. "We are going to need a way to recognize you if we get separated or tangle with your 'sisters'."  
  
"You act like we are going to escape." Sarah inquired, coming out of the corner.  
  
"Was there any doubt?" Mike asked back.  
  
"Foolish male, can you back up that boast?" Sarah intoned.  
  
"What... what is it with you and males?" Daniel asked.  
  
"Whatever it was, I am glad all your sisters feel that way. They need to be taught the art of the 'pat down'." Mike started. "They didn't get everything."  
  
"Physical contact between males and females in strictly controlled and generally prohibited." Sarah recited.  
  
"Pity you" Mike responded and Sam turned red.  
  
"Your guns will not penetrate the grate." the Tok'ra informed.  
  
"Teal'c give Major Carter a hand. Major, see if you can pull yourself up with the grates to see if anyone would be watching."  
  
"The grate would make an excellent ladder Michael Hernandez" Teal'c commented.  
  
The Jaffa hoisted the Major up and she looked about.  
  
"Can't see anything sir. On either side."  
  
"Major Carter. I believe you have acquired 2 more kilograms since our last mission."  
  
The Major turned red. "Teal'c!"  
  
"That would be about 4 lbs." Daniel said absently.  
  
"Where did you acquire this weight Major?" Mike droned on, in perfect imitation of Teal'c.  
  
"I am beginning to see Sarah's point regarding men," she told the room in general.  
  
"You have nothing to open the gate with Colonel," Sarah observed.  
  
"Teal'c. Show the lady a little male ingenuity."  
  
The Jaffa walked over and offered her a familiar hand device. Sarah took it, quickly putting it on. She glanced at Mike a little to long, he thought. She took a little pleasure at seeing his slight discomfort and turned her attention to the grate.  
  
Moving quickly Sarah pooled her thoughts into concentrating on the ribbon and a shot of energy hit the grate, knocking it open and into the pit. The Jaffa caught it easily and placed it against the wall for them to use as a ladder. As the group traversed the halls Sarah pushed down her personal thoughts in favor of remembering all the twists and turns of her sisters ship. Mike, in the lead, rounded a corner before she could tell him not to and found himself face to face with a guard. Both stunned at first Mike came to his senses and shot the guard, with his zat, twice and then a third time to eliminate the evidence. With grin of satisfaction he continued down the hallway, looking for the exit.  
  
Suddenly Sarah stopped dead in her tracks. "Stop!" she whispered.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Not that way...I...I can't go that way..."  
  
"But it's the way out!"  
  
"No... I..." Sarah shook her head, trembling in fear at what lay behind that door.  
  
The team looked at one another and then at the door. What could be so bad as to bring a Tok'ra to shake in fear? Daniel, who was next to her, put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"It'll be okay... we'll get you through this."  
  
Mike watched her for a moment, shaking with fear, before his heart was tugged with pity for her. Moving to her other side he copied Daniel.  
  
"We can do it. We'll help you through this together." he smiled. "Let's move out campers."  
  
As a group they headed through the door, each one wondering what was held behind the door.  
  
The metal doors slid open and Sam gasped.  
  
"Kreetak!" hissed Teal'c. "This place is evil Michael Hernandez.  
  
Daniel pulled Sarah close to him as they started to walk quickly down the narrow aisle. Flanking either side of them were rows upon rows of tubes filled with some sort of liquid. They were not empty. Suspended in the liquid were clones of Sarah. The clones were covered in what looked like...yes! They were! Goa'uld's!  
  
"But... but... I thought they possessed the hosts... not consumed them." Daniel stammered.  
  
Sarah kept her hands over her eyes as the team advanced.  
  
"Teal'c?" Mike asked.  
  
"I have heard only of legends where the Goa'uld consume their hosts." the Jaffa responded.  
  
"Colonel, each tank must have 20 Goa'uld in them. There's only one body?" Major Carter observed.  
  
"Not... not... hosts." Sarah stammered. "Not all Goa'uld reach full sentience, or rather, the ability to take a host. Whatever mind the creature has quickly goes mad, and it reverts to past instincts."  
  
"The natural advancement of a Goa'uld in it's natural form stops upon gaining sentience?" Daniel asked.  
  
Sarah nodded, "... and... and... the ability to possess."  
  
"They can only form a society structure through hosts." Carter added.  
  
Mike looked around confused. "So what are these wild, or savage Goa'uld good for?"  
  
"Nothing that I can think of, Sir." Sam replied.  
  
"T... Torture... punishment." Sarah asked weakly.  
  
"What??!!" Daniel exclaimed.  
  
Part of her was comforted by how deeply his revulsion was felt. Sarah continued, "My sisters are an unforgiving lot. When mistakes are made, this is how they are punished. When they have outlived their usefulness, this is how they end up. This is how I am going to end up...." she suddenly stopped and looked into one of the tubes. It looked like any old clone to the others, but she knew... she knew... it was her... Kindness... Kindness from a different time.  
  
"Let's get out of here" grumbled Mike. The group made their way on, formulating their makeshift escape plan as they went.  
  
Making it through the long room of tubes the quintet made it to the door on the other end and emerged into the throne room only to find the sisters waiting for them. The Lioness Guards forced them to their knees once more and Sara glared at them from her throne.  
  
"You disappoint me, Sarah. When will you learn?"  
  
Sa-La rose from her throne. "Poor, poor Sarah. You always try so hard to trust these foolish men, yet every time you are disappointed by them. Only this time will be the last. The time has come for a new Kindness to rise and you shall take your place among your sisters."  
  
"No," she declared, getting to her feet before her sisters. "I challenge you, Sara, to the Roshtenra."  
  
The women laughed. "You? Do you hear this sister's? Kindness wants to challenge Leadership to the Roshtenra!" Sara laughed. "Very well, Sarah, I accept your challenge. If you win I shall release you to leave unharmed with your pitiful Tau'ri. But," she grinned. "If I win... you will willingly enter your tube and none of your kind shall rise again. Kindness will be forever wiped out from our system."  
  
Sarah glared at her sister but nodded. What choice did she have? She had gotten the Tau'ri involved in this, it was up to her to do all she could to get them out. The sister left the room to ready for the challenge, leaving Sarah alone with the Tau'ri save for the Lioness Guard standing in each doorway. With a deep breath she approached the one throne that had remained empty and pressed a button.   
  
From the ceiling a large square descended, rings, hundreds of them, hanging down. Disappearing from view for a moment when Sarah returned she was dressed in a body suit, skintight from neck to ankle. Standing in the very center of the rings she took a deep breath and jumped, just able to grab onto of the rings. SG-1 watched as she swung from ring to ring like a monkey.   
  
"Umm... question," Mike called up to her. "What exactly is going on here?"  
  
It was Teal'c who answered.  
  
"The Roshtenra is a challenge between siblings, Michael Hernandez, a battle between two siblings from which there can be only on victor. The looser places their life willingly in the hands of the sibling that defeated them."  
  
"Oh."  
  
High above Sarah swung back and forth on the rings, reaching for and switching around on them like a pro until she missed one and landed with a thud on the floor. "Dammit!" she yelled, frustration taking over.  
  
Sitting up, legs crossed, she settled into a peaceful state they recognized as Kel-no-ren. Mere moments later the doors opened again and the women returned; all but one taking their places on the platform. One, Sara, jumped up to warm up on the rings as Sarah had, until she dropped to the ground with a cats grace to face her sister.  
  
Sarah opened her eyes to meet her sister's gaze and nodded. Standing she watched as Sara jumped up to grab a ring, swinging off into the corner while Sarah followed her example. With a cry from the women sitting below the two sisters began moving around the rings, swinging around each other until Sara finally went in to attack. Using her feet Sara kicked Sarah, the force of the blow upsetting Sarah's balance.  
  
Down on the ground SG-1 held their breath's waiting to see if Sarah could recover, releasing it collectively when she did. They watched as she swung away, dodging her sister's swipes. Suddenly the ring she was holding disappeared. Tumbling toward the ground, desperate to catch herself Sarah shot out a foot and hooked it through one of the rings. Hanging upside down she saw Sa-La removing her hand from the controls on the arm of her throne.  
  
"Cheater!" Sarah cried, knowing it was she who had removed the ring.  
  
"I never promised you a fair fight," Sara declared, swinging towards her sister to finish what Sa-La had started.  
  
Energy renewed Sarah righted herself and swung away, determined to win this. As they swung around, her arms tiring, Sarah knew she had to finish this as soon as possible. While she was swinging Sarah, along with everyone else in the room, saw that gate begin to circle round. When Sara's gaze was distracted Sarah went in to knock her down. With a growl of rage Sara fell to the floor, a moment later Sarah dropped down next to her, both women breathless.  
  
The gate opened with a swoosh and marines and Tok'ra alike poured out. The battle was short, the Lioness Guards loosing. SG-1 was released and Mike turned to Jacob who was leading the teams.   
  
"Nice timing there, Dad."  
  
Smiling Jacob approached Sara. "Are you the one who sent us the child?"  
  
Incredulous Sara turned to Sarah. "You sent the harsesis to the Tok'ra! The System Lords will have our heads for this!"  
  
"That's your problem sister. I'm leaving," Sarah said as she stepped through the gate with SG-1. On the other side she looked around at the gray walls and floors of the gate room. "What an ugly room," she proclaimed.  
  
Mike rolled his eyes. "Yeah? Well welcome to our home."  
  
*****  
  
Several days after debriefing General Hammond gave the SG team some much-needed leave. They took Sarah along to introduce to her that which made all good...that which made all home...that which made all American.  
  
"Welcome to McDonald's, can I take your order?" asked the chipper young high school student.  
  
"Um... well... what toys to you have for your happy meal?" asked a man, his fingers pushing his glasses up.  
  
The girl looked at the 5 eager people strangely. "Rocky the Space Raccoon?" she asked.  
  
"See, I told you!" exclaimed one individual (clearly the leader of the group).  
  
One woman was picked uncomfortably at her clothes. "These garments are not as soft as my robes. These itch." Then looking up, "What is a raccoon?"  
  
"A space raccoon," the leader corrected.  
  
"I want no animal in my box of food Daniel Jackson," came a deep voice from large black man who stepped up to the counter. The high school girl backed away a little.  
  
"What about any Shelly the Scientist Squirrel?" asked a blonde woman cheerfully. "Got any of those?"  
  
Daniel looked over at the Jaffa. "There is no real animal in the box of..." he trailed off.  
  
"You eat animals? Do you eat them alive?" inquired the woman picking at her clothes.  
  
"Well no... well yes... well, no..." answered Daniel  
  
"Well that answers everything!" the leader said exasperated. "And will you stop picking your clothes."  
  
"They itch!" hissed the woman back.  
  
"You've got the price tag still on them," pointed out the high school girl.  
  
"What?? These?"  
  
"I believe you are supposed to remove those." Daniel said reaching over for the tag. He pulled. "Damn, these things are difficult to remove."  
  
"Does anyone have anything to remove this?" he asked his friends.  
  
"I do not have my staff weapon with me Daniel Jackson," informed the Jaffa.  
  
"We want to remove the tag, not blow a hole through her side." the leader quipped.  
  
"It was a joke Michael Hernandez," informed the Jaffa.  
  
"Do you have any Shelly the..." the blonde woman, asked again.  
  
"Huh? No... no more Shelly's," the high school girl answered distracted by the efforts to remove the tag.  
  
"See Sam. All they have is the Rocky's."  
  
"Got it!" Daniel cried triumphantly. "You were right Teal'c. Her size is..."  
  
"That is personal!" cried the woman. Glaring at the Jaffa, "How did you know?"  
  
The black man, unperturbed replied, "While within the pit... in the waist high water," he clarified, "Your silk garments stuck very well..."  
  
"Enough!" shouted the other woman, clearly embarrassed.  
  
The entire restaurant stopped for a slit second, and then the hum of business resumed.  
  
Mike looked at Sam. "This is going to be a long day."  
  
Sam looked at him back, and then over to the high school girl, "Would another location have the Shelly's?"  
  
********  
  
The End 


End file.
